Jan 20, Colombo: A survey conducted by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka has found that over 2,900 children and youth abducted by the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had perished in the war.

The LTTE had abducted the children and youth from their homes and forcibly recruited to its ranks to fight against the government security forces at frontlines.

The Sri Lanka Army has initiated a counselling programme to redress the parents of the children who were forcibly conscripted and later died in the war, a senior TID official has told Ceylon Today.

According to the TID official, the programme that will commence at the Solidarity Centre in Kilinochchi, will issue death certificates to the parents of those children.

Also, arrangements will reportedly be made to offer them Rs 100,000 as compensation for each family member killed in battle.

Moreover, under the program a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 will be given to those who were affected by the war.

Accordingly 1,200 persons in 426 families will be provided with relief under the programme.

Provision of compensation to the affected families is a recommendation of the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Reportedly, officials of seven government institutions have been tasked with the responsibility to carry out the relief measures and they have already been deployed to Kilinochchi to implement the measures.

However, the same survey has found that there had been malpractices during implementation of the programme during past few months.